COSC Liberal Studies or Whatever

[Tedium]

Alright, it's time to buckle down and actually get this done. I am looking to get out of the English concentration and into the Liberal Studies track. I do not want to take an additional English course at COSC or BYU IS, which I would have to do if I stayed in the English program. I hate math and I hate Shakespeare. I'm thinking COSC because I already have the Cornerstone completed. I have 24 UL English credits, 3 UL History, 3 UL PHIL, 3 UL PSY, and 3 from the Capstone. 

I was tentatively thinking Literature/History. If I need more credits in the History section, there are the three UL DSST History exams I can take no problem. English and History are my strong suits, and I think that would be an easier capstone to write. That would give me 24 English, 12 History, 3 Philosophy, 3 Psychology, 3 Capstone. More than enough for the 36 required at COSC. My main issue is the credit breakdown for the Liberal Studies degree. I can't figure out from their wording if they want 18 UL in each concentration or if the 18 is a mix of the two or what. The wording looks funky to me. So, any insight into that would be awesome. I'm really open to whatever concentration, though. 

I do have ALEKS College Algebra, but they no longer accept it. I'm going to try and power through Sophia College Algebra and hope the timed exams don't get the best of me. 

I believe the math and the History credits are the only things I'm missing. I would have graduated in 2016, but I went through a bad divorce and had to drop out. Just trying to finish what I started as quickly and cheaply as possible. Does that plan sound good to y'all? Is there a quicker, cheaper way/degree/school I'm missing? 

Most of these except the Sophia come directly from my last transcript at COSC. Here are my credits: 

Your Location: Louisiana, USA
Your Age: 36
What kind of degree do you want?: Any. Cheapest/Fastest
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 82

McNeese State University
ENGL 101 English Composition 1 TR A 3.00 
HIST 101 European History to 1648 TR B 3.00 
HIST 102 European History since 1648 TR B 3.00 
OSBC 101 Basic Keyboarding & Formatting TR B 3.00 
SOCL 201 Introductory Sociology TR B 3.00 
SPAN 101 Elementary Spanish 1 TR D 3.00 
SPCH 201 Fundamentals of Public Speaking TR D 3.00 

Northwestern State University
ENGL 2070 Major Writers World LIterature TR D 3.00 
ENGL 3100 Survey of American Lit Part 1 TR B 3.00 
ENGL 3150 Survey of American Lit Part 2 TR A 3.00 
ENGL 3160 Survey of British Lit Part 1 TR B 3.00 
ENGL 4420 Literary Criticism TR B 3.00 
ENGL 4980 Film Seminar 2: Genres TR B 3.00 
FA 1040 Exploring the Arts TR B 3.00 
NUTR 1030 Human Nutrition TR B 3.00 
PHIL 1010 Intro to Philosophy TR A 3.00 
SPHI 3870 Philosophy of Film TR B 4.00

Southern New Hampshire University
ATH 111 Intro to Cultural Anthropology TR B 3.00 
ENG 226 Intro to Creative Writing TR A- 3.00 

Adams State University
ENG 365 Ethnic & Minority Literature TR A 3.00 

Clovis Community College
BIOL 113 Biology for General Ed/Lab CC B 4.00 
PHIL 211 Ethics CC D 3.00 

Charter Oak State College
IDS-101 Cornerstone Seminar CR A 3.00 3.00
ENG-302 World Literature for Children CR A 3.00 3.00
ENG-304 American Short Story CR A- 3.00 3.00

College Level Examination Program 
CS03A History of U.S. 1 (64)11/08 TR P 3.00 
CS03B History of U.S. 2 (63)11/08 TR P 3.00 
CS05 Analyzing/Interp Literature (72)10 TR P 6.00 
CS25 Intro Psychology (66)8/09 TR P 3.00 
CG 07B College Composition (60)4/15 TR P 3.00 
Principles of Marketing 3.00
Principles of Management 3.00

DANTES Examinations 
SI496 Intro to World Religions (466)5/12 TR P 3.00 

UExcel Examination Program 
HISX 340 World Conflicts since 1900 TR A 3.00
PSYX 325 Social Psychology TR B 3.00

SOPHIA Learning
Visual Communications (VISCOMM1001) 3.00 
Introduction to Ethics (PHIL1002) 3.00
Project Management (PM1001) 3.00
Introduction to Business (BUS1001) 3.00
Environmental Science (ENVS1001) 3.00
Introduction to Information Technology (CS1001) 3.00
Ancient Greek Philosophers (PHIL1001 - 2018) 3.00
Conflict Resolution (CONRES1001) 3.00

CSMlearn

The CSM Certificate 3.00 

Study.com

Business 109: Intro to Computing (v.3) 3.00 
Presentation Skills in the Workplace 3.00

EDIT: As I'm reading the catalog, I'm beginning to think I have met the conditions of graduation with the exception of the Capstone and the Sophia College Algebra, in regards to the History credits. I mean, 3 History credits doesn't seem like enough for a concentration "to show depth", but I don't know. 18 per concentration seems excessive. Someone put me out of my misery. Do I need the DSSTs or not? I'm going to call up there tomorrow and ask for a confirmation. I just need to stop thinking about it for a while. I've been thinking about this degree for way too long.

From the catalog:

"The key to receiving approval for this concentration is the student's ability to explain the rationale for the proposed concentration and its relation to his/her career and/or personal goals. The rationale is key to laying the foundation for the capstone requirement.

The number of credits and distribution by level consists of a minimum of 36 credits with a minimum of 18 at the upper level. The 18 upper level credits must represent a logical distribution from various disciplines in the concentration. The concentration needs to show breadth and depth in each subject area chosen."

[Tedium]

@raycathode looked at their degree plan and it said that a concentration was at least 9 hours. This makes sense.

So, I’ll take the DSSTs: The Civil War and Reconstruction, and History of the Soviet Union. I basically studied for these a few years ago, so study now will just be a refresher. That will give me 24 UL English and 9 UL History. That should be more of enough.

As an added bonus, I can write my Capstone on the CIA’s involvement in the cultural arena of the Cold War, which involved a lot of writers, publications, and university creative writing programs. I can start pre-writing now just in case life happens again and I fall behind in my Capstone course.

~$250 DSSTs+$79 Sophia+$1716.80 COSC= $2045.80 total

Not too bad to FINALLY get my degree.


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[rachel83az]

If you can't deal with Sophia's Algebra, COSC does have other options: https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...20pdf2.pdf Either the College Mathematics CLEP or the Contemporary Mathematics UExcel are options. Liberal Arts Math TECEP, unfortunately, won't meet the math requirement. That's silly, but I don't get to make the requirements.

You might also want to try Sophia's Statistics to meet COSC's math requirement. A few people have reported finding the stats to be relatively easy, even though they struggled with Sophia's Algebra.

[Tedium]

Oh, I hadn’t heard that about Sophia Statistics. I’ll have to give it a look when I renew my membership.

I was going to do the UExcel, and it’s not so much that I can’t do the math. It just takes me too dang long to work through the problems. I don’t want the added stress of a time limit with a subject I’m already struggling with if I can help it. Sophia is a little more relaxed and I know I won’t have to score perfect on the final.

We’ll see how it goes. I think if I know that and two exams are all that’s standing between me and graduation, it may help motivate me.


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[rachel83az]

I can totally understand that! IMO, Sophia is pretty generous as far as time limits go. If you do Stats, make sure you watch the videos or the text won't make as much sense.

[bjcheung77]

~$250 DSSTs+$79 Sophia+$1716.80 COSC= $2045.80 total

Not too bad to FINALLY get my degree.

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Just wondering, have you checked out the UMPI degree options to see how close you are to one of them? You can go for a BAS with a Minor in something that interests you since you have the BOG AAS. Costs should be two terms, at $2800, it's a very good option to investigate... application is free, just need to pay for transcripts to see where you stand.

[Tedium]

Honestly, man, this is as close as I’ve ever felt to actually being done and I’m scared of doing anything that would prolong the journey any longer.

The more credits and hoops I put between me and the finish line, the more chances of me not having the time to finish. Again.

UMPI would be amazing and I was previously accepted, but jamming out 30+ credits as opposed to 12 doesn’t seem like a great idea with my track record. I guess I was more trying to see if I had missed a degree option that would be faster/easier with most of the credits I have now.

1 Sophia, 2 DSSTs and 1 Capstone and I’m out. The light at the end of the tunnel is blinding, brother.




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[bjcheung77]

That's understandable, it all depends on your situation, track records are just that "a gauge" to see how you're doing at a certain point. Let's talk now: How much time do you have/day dedicated to your studies? How long did it take you to do those Sophia.org courses? If you have no commitments, UMPI is the way to go as it resembles Sophia.org, especially when you have the BIO w/lab and Spanish! Just need the minor and other requirements done. Many have completed the UMPI requirements faster than completing the required at COSC. If you have no time as things come up here and there, then stay the route with COSC.

[rachel83az]

I agree that UMPI might actually be less work than COSC. But! If COSC feels like it'll be easier, go with that. Do what makes the most sense for you.

[arad]

deleted post (I misread something)